Automatic switch



March 192 7 J. D. COLLINS AUTOMATIC SWITCH Filed Oct. 28, 1922 Julius D. Collin Patented Mar. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES JULIUS D. COLLINS, OF VINELAND, NEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC SWITCH.

Application filed October as, 1922. Serial No. 597,635.

This invention relates to improvements in safety devices for railroad crossings and has for an object the provision of electrically operated means whereby a circuit will be automatically closed by a car or train approaching a crossing to lower a gate or gates and afterward close the circuit for raising the gate or gates after the train leaves the opposite side of the crossing.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention further includes the following novel features and details of construction, to be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in vertical section and elevation, showing a track rail and a switch controlled thereby, and Figure 2 shows the circuit closing means in top plan.

In Figure 1 one of the track rails is designated R and the web portion is apertured or drilled at 18 for the reception of bar 17 which projects beyond the opposite side of the web, so that it can not be displaced therefrom, except intentionally and by the use of considerable force.

Bar 17 is pivoted at 19 to a stationary element, and carries a conducting element 20 designed to bridge the space between terminal or contact members 21 which are adapted for connection with wires forming part of the circuit by which the gates will be controlled. The contact members are mounted in a suitable housing 15, and in Figure 2 the housing contains two pairs of contacts, so that electrical connections may be made for two pairs of railway gates.

Vertical movement of the rail R under the weight of a train will close the switch, by the upward movement of element 20, and the peculiar type of engagement with the web of the rail render the construction reliable to a marked extent. The switch opens as the train passes.

Having described the invention what is claimed is A switch structure for controlling the operation of railway gates, comprising in conibination with a railway rail, a pair of spaced contacts, a lever having one end thereof extending freely thru the web of one of the rails, forming an accident proof and positively operating connection independent of slight lateral movement of the rail, means for pivotally supporting the lever independent of the rail or its mounting means, a bridging member carried by that end of the lever free from engagement with the rail and movable in an unobstructed path into bridging engagement with said contacts upon depression of the rail by the weight of a train thereon.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

J ULIUS D. COLLINS. 

